Category Archives: Disability Theology

Praying for Healing for the Wrong Person

Brad has served at Elim for almost three decades, and like many of us, he never expected to be here for very long. Something about Elim, though, draws you in.

Also, like a lot of us, Brad started out wishing for a better life for those we serve. After all, life with disabilities seems a grim prospect, and you at least wonder if there’s the possibility that something more could be done with their lives if only they weren’t all disabled.

So it happened that Brad would find himself praying for healing, not for himself, but for the adults with disabilities to whom he tended each day. One day, he was in the middle of this prayer, when Liz began to sing a hymn she had learned in her church.

When Brad told me this story, he said it was an eye-opener for him, perhaps literally, since he had been praying at the time. But figuratively too. Maybe it was God’s way of showing us that He doesn’t need us to be normal to show His love.

That raises a question for me, because I normally think of God in terms of His power, and that’s where a lot of this disability talk gets tripped up. Most of the people I know at Elim, who have a disability, will never have power. But what they often possess, and share freely, is a love that shames my own expression of this chief character of God.

But this, too, is an area where I have to be careful, because God did not make people with disabilities more loving than He did with me. They are just more uninhibited in sharing His love, and that’s probably what makes their expression of it so much more powerful than mine.

 

danvp_avatarDan Vander Plaats is the Director of Advancement at Elim Christian Services in Palos Heights, Illinois, a ministry that exists to equip people who live with disabilities to answer God’s call on their lives. He is also a member of the advisory committee for Disability Concerns for the Christian Reformed Church. In 2009, he developed “5 Stages: The Journey of Disability Attitudes” as a resource for Elim. The 5 Stages helps churches and individuals assess their attitudes toward people with disabilities. He is married to Denise (Hiemstra), and is father to Ben and Emma. They are members of Orland Park Christian Reformed Church in Illinois.

 

 

 


From Brokenness to Community

frombrokennessToday, we share a brief quote from the book From Brokenness to Community, by Jean Vanier:

And I come here to tell you how much life these people have given me, that they have an incredible gift to bring to our world, that they are a source of hope, peace and perhaps salvation for our wounded world, and that if we are open to them, if we welcome them, they give us life and lead us to Jesus and the good news.

It is my belief that in our mad world where there is so much pain, rivalry, hatred, violence, inequality, and oppression, it is people who are weak, marginalized and counted as useless, who can become a source of life and of salvation for us as individuals as well as our world.

If you are looking for a great, short book, you will be hard-pressed to find something more thought-provoking, inspiring, or quicker to read than this brief booklet. In it, Vanier, founder of the L’Arche movement, weaves stories of his own experiences into a broader presentation of the impact that weakness and brokenness have on the Christian community.

Here too, though, Vanier points to the age-old question of value. What determines our value. As stated in other posts, our value comes not from our weakness, or from our differences, it comes from the way in which God redeems those aspects of our lives to His purposes. You can read more in our blog post about value.

What do you think? When people come into relationship with those who have disabilities, something powerful happens. What is that? Why does that happen?

 

danvp_avatarDan Vander Plaats is the Director of Advancement at Elim Christian Services in Palos Heights, Illinois, a ministry that exists to equip people who live with disabilities to answer God’s call on their lives. He is also a member of the advisory committee for Disability Concerns for the Christian Reformed Church. In 2009, he developed “5 Stages: The Journey of Disability Attitudes” as a resource for Elim. The 5 Stages helps churches and individuals assess their attitudes toward people with disabilities. He is married to Denise (Hiemstra), and is father to Ben and Emma. They are members of Orland Park Christian Reformed Church in Illinois.

 

 

 


Our Value Comes Not from Accomplishment, or from Need, but from God

imagodeiOur value as human beings is determined by an external source. It is not we who define our value, or the value of others. Our value is only determined by our Creator, by a God who has fashioned us in His image.

And yet, that is an incredibly difficult thing to say. That’s why I really don’t want to write this, because I know it will be a great challenge to clearly communicate the important points here.

But it needs

 


Disability is Not a Blessing, But it Also is Not a Curse

I cringed when I heard him say it.

“I think of my child’s disability as a blessing. He is truly a blessing from God.”

How can you argue with that? Of course, children are a blessing from God. Every Christian ever has agreed with that sentiment, except for those occasions when we’re just not that particularly grateful for the child.

But this man was speaking about his son who was born with Down Syndrome. You don’t expect the parent of a child with special needs to say that about their child. You expect to hear things like:

  • I’m so depressed that my child is not normal.
  • Why would God do this to us?

These sentiments, after all, make sense to us who live in a normal world where disability is simply an anomaly, an abnormality. Disability is not normal, to our thinking. It is wrong.

Stephanie Hubach talks about this in her wonderful book “Same Lake, Different Boat.” She calls this point of view the ‘disability is an abnormal part of an abnormal world’ perspective. People who think of disability this way are no different from the disciples of Jesus Christ who asked “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

But Jesus replies that this did not happen because of a sin. It was not a curse.

But neither was it a blessing. But some folks think it is. They will say that God has blessed parents of a child with special needs with a very special gift, that God must love them indeed. Parents themselves will conclude that their child comes from God, and if God doesn’t make mistakes, then this must be another blessing.

Hubach refers to this mindset as the ‘disability is a normal part of a normal world’ perspective. It’s a sensible approach to the reality of life with a disability. Let’s look at the glass as half-full, and see God’s blessings in everything.

But life with a disability is far different. It is not a blessing, it is difficult. It is challenging and frustrating. It is a source of bitterness, sadness, and depression for many people.

So if disabilities are not a curse, and they are not a blessing, then what are they?

Reality in a Broken World

Disabilities are a reality in a broken world. Disability, to paraphrase Hubach one more time, is an abnormal part of an abnormal world. The world is not as it is supposed to be. It is broken, fractured, in pain. It is mired in sin, it is abnormal.

Disability reflects this abnormality. Disability includes weakness, difficulty, pain, isolation, and sadness. It is a natural part of a broken world, not a result of particular sin, but a symptom of its general existence.

Disability is all these things and it is a real part of a broken world, not a curse or a blessing from God.

But it does present an opportunity, an opportunity to bless or to curse.

You can curse people with disabilities by using words that isolate them, by maintaining an attitude of avoidance or pity.

Or you can bless. You can bless people who have been affected by disabilities: parents, friends, siblings, the persons themselves. You can participate in God’s real work, which is not to curse people with disabilities, or to “bless” someone with disabling conditions or mental illnesses.

No, God’s work is to redeem, and we are invited to participate in that work today. We can redeem our attitudes, we can redeem relationships, we can redeem situations and we can start today.

What You Can Do

So what can you do to participate in redemptive work in the lives of people affected by disabilities?

You can introduce yourself to someone who is affected by disability, whether it’s a man in a wheelchair, a woman who struggles with depression, or a family member of that person.

Today, that’s the only step we’re asking you to take. It’s a huge step, though – not just for you, but for the person you are reaching out to. Just remember, your job is not to see the disability as a blessing or a curse, but as another opportunity for God to redeem and to build His kingdom.


Fix My Funny Talking

I wrote up something recently to answer a pretty basic question: What if someone offered to fix my speech impediment? How would I respond?

If you read Zach’s entry from his blog (below) you’ll get a great perspective on this. But, in my nitpicky way, I still don’t fully agree with his position, but I really appreciate and empathize with his struggle. Read on after the quote to get my thoughts:

Yesterday I had a talk with one of my pastors about Aspergers Syndrome, and he keeps saying he feels God will heal me one day and I will be normal.  To be honest this angers me and I’m not sure why.  I believe Aspergers is a big part of who I am, Aspergers helps define how I think, what I fear, what I want, what I need – its a big part of my life.  When people talk about how I will be healed it makes me think there not accepting me for who I am.  I also wonder if they would say the same to a blind person, or an amputee?

Does the fact that my disability is one that effects the mental part of me make it a disability that should be healed by God?  I’m going to be honest in saying this theological question has caused me great pains with my church – to the point of where I am starting to feel unwelcome.  I don’t think its my churches intention to harm me in anyway, but how do I get them to accept me for who I am, Aspergers and all?

via Aspergers, Autism and Christian Healing — AspieWeb.net.

My concern with Zach’s comments is this: the disability is not what makes Zach valuable or worthwhile or even different. Unfortunately, Zach’s pastor is at Stage 2 ( or maybe 3) on the spectrum – he pities Zach and hopes God will heal him.

You see, secular society (and in a twisted mirror version, Christian society) has two approaches to ‘valuing’ people with disabilities:

  • We value people with disabilities despite their disabilities. This is what Zach’s pastor does, essentially pointing out that life would be best for Zach if God took away his Asperger’s. Not only that, but he’s also making it clear that Zach’s life is more valuable without the disability. So what is Zach’s natural response? It’s the response of anyone who naturally cares for and values people with disabilities.
  • We value people with disabilities because of the disability. If we don’t think people would be the same without their disability, then we conclude that their value is still tied in with the disability. For example, Zack’s comments about ‘accepting him for who he is’ imply to me the idea that the disability is part of who he is, and part of his value as a person.

It’s not. The disability does not make us more or less valuable in God’s sight. Why? Because our value does not depend on what we accomplish or on the fact that we are disabled or broken (what makes us different). Our value is only in the fact that we are children of God, created in His image.

What do you think, though? Is it better for Zach to get healed, to be a normal, contributing member of his church? Please share your thoughts here.


On the Passing of Harriett McBryde Johnson

hjohnsonThere are so many things we can learn from Harriett McBryde Johnson, who died earlier this month at the age of 50 from a congenital neuro-muscular disease. Surely, she was a champion for the rights of those with disabilities, but she was much more than that. Here is a sampling of the truths we can learn from her, all from the Wall Street Journal article:

  • She challenged philosopher Peter Singer by saying “The presence or absence of a disability doesn’t predict quality of life.”
  • She worked with groups like “Jerry’s Orphans” who challenge the Labor Day telethon, and she also worked with Not Dead Yet, a disability-rights group formed to challenge the assisted suicide movement.
  • Her work has encouraged our society to question “the rapid near-disappearance of people with Down Syndrome. Between 80% and 90% of women who find out they are carrying a child with the chromosomal abnormality (which can be tested using amniocentesis) choose to abort. A Harvard medical student who surveyed 1,000 women who were pregnant with Down Syndrome babies reported that many were urged by their doctors to terminate their pregnancies; one woman’s physician told her that her child would “never be able to read, write or count change.” This at a time when new developments in medicine have nearly doubled the average life span of people who have the condition to 49 from 25 years. As a culture, we have made what Amy Laura Hall of Duke University Divinity School calls a “democratic calculus of worth” regarding Down Syndrome. And that calculus has resulted in a society hostile to people who refuse to make the culturally acceptable choice of ridding themselves of a disabled child before she is born.”

Yes, we can learn much. But as with all truth, and she definitely had latched into a truth, it comes from God and belongs to God. A society that values people with disabilities does so for reasons other than the fact that they can ‘enjoy happy, productive, and fulfilled lives.’ This is true whether you believe in God or not.

But for people who believe that God did create people in His image, it is easy to understand why people with disabilities are important: because they, like us, reflect His image. They, like us, are conceived with an intrinsic value – not because of their disability, but because God is glorified in, through, and around their lives.